Label Departures

While catching up at Hypebot the other day I noticed a short update of A&R movement from the A&R registry. So I went there and in the past 8 weeks there have been a lot of people losing their jobs, and I don’t see many additions in that same place. Is A&R going the way of the dinosaur and the dodo and the 7 minute single?

A&R Registry letter.

Two of the most interesting departures (which is a nice way of saying firing) to me are Ben Goldman at Columbia and John Rubelli at Atlantic.

Ben had just crossed over to Columbia after 15 or so years at Epic Records when Steve Barnett and Charlie walk switched companies. You figure that would make him safe, as Barnett would want to surround himself with trusted allies, but with the Rick Rubin hiring and basic restructuring of Columbia that he is instituting, Ben might have been better off staying at Epic.

John Rubelli however is another story. One of my personal most anticipated albums of last year was Kill Hannah’s sophomore effort. This is what artist development was supposed to be about. The first Atlantic Kill Hannah album, Fornever and Ever, was great, but commercially did not do that well. Its biggest impact was making the synth sound viable again and opening up a door for The Killers, and Franz Ferdinand. I was surprised when Atlantic was giving them another shot, and I feel that mainly had to do with the passion that John Rubelli had for the band. The new album, Until There's Nothing Left of Us, was also a dud though. I feel that had to do with the music then the marketing. I can’t recall being more disappointed in an album. I played it several times to make sure I wasn’t just missing something, but the public spoke and Kill Hannah did not sell records. This wasn’t so much a sophomore slump, as the first album did not do well either, but after that the writing was on the wall for Mr. Rubelli.

A departure that has not even made the A&R registry yet is Michael Kaplan of Columbia. Kaplan of Or Music, Los Lonely Boys and Matisyahu Fame, often gets credit for popularizing the concept of upstreaming. He has some of the best ears and business instincts in the business. I can only imagine that he is a casualty of the Rubin hiring as well.

With so many exits in recent weeks the A&R registry must not be bigger than my pamphlet on Jewish sports legends.

Perez Hilton reads Newsweek instead of nothing

Newsweek stole my concept. I spend a good part of my day looking for indicators, things that can catapult a good band from obscurity to the public’s consciousness. When discussing Sportswriter, Bill Simmons (who was just name dropped in Hits), I called him a poor mans Oprah in that his fan base was rabid and would buy what he suggested. The emphasis is on Poor.

Now Newsweek, has given that title to Perez Hilton, the smarmy blogger who gets his kicks off ripping on celebrities. It appears that Perez is a music fan and that one mention on his site can generate a giant increase in site hits for an unknown band like Mother Mother or sales for a Major Label act like Mika. Newsweek says that his recommendations are like Oprah’s Book club. (Actually Jennifer Hirst formerly of Last Gang Records makes the claim)

Read here:
Gossip Maven Perez Hilton Tries Music Biz

Now this is quite a jump. The majority of Oprah’s book club members are legitimate best sellers, some in the millions, and this has occurred over a sustained period of many years. The Newsweek reporter is claiming that the slight bump that several artists experienced after mentions on Perez Hilton’s site as evidence of his star making abilities.

This is strange logic on 2 levels. One, For Mika, the Universal Republic artist who had the number one single in the UK. His 50,000 sales can hardly be attributed to just Perez Hilton. Granted he did not have traditional radio airplay, but he was all over MTV and VH1. Mika’s song Love Today was the theme to the Ten Spot commercials and I heard that song no less than 5 million times over the course of the past three months thanks to an unhealthy real world road rules challenge obsession.

Second, for Mother Mother, Newsweek claims that a mention on Perez Hilton spiked their hits by 5,000 in one hour. What do site hits translate into though? Does all that traffic (is 5,000 even a lot) mean that Mother Mother will really break though?

For the record I like Mother Mother and Mika, but there is a lot more going on with both of those records than just Perez Hilton.

Listen here:

Mother Mother MySpace

Mika MySpace

The most interesting thing in the article for me is this quote

“So what's in it for Hilton? He insists he gets paid nothing for an endorsement—unless hanging out with celebrities counts as some kind of currency. "I get free clothes," he admits, "but no one's ever offered me money." "I wish," says Jennifer Hirst of the post-for-pay idea, "because if that were the case he would just take any music we send."

Several years ago I wrote a treatise on payola for blogs. It looked like the natural progression as radio’s influence waned. Whichever company could control the flow of music to Blogs would be as valuable as the old independent radio promotion companies. The main reason it did not occur was that few blogs had any real affect on sales. With this Newsweek article maybe the tide is turning. It is even more amazing that Ms. Hirst comes right out and says that she would prefer a payola system. I don’t think this is a good thing. Somewhere the next Elliot Spitzer is licking his chops at taking down Brooklyn Vegan.

Danger Radio vs. Scene Aesthetic

vs.

Coolfer recently linked to an in depth article in the New York Times about indie musicians who makes a decent living by communing with their fans online. Its focus is primarily about a man named Jonathan Coulton and the community that has developed around his “create a song a week” experiment. It’s an interesting article which gives insight on how to grow and monetize an artist’s fan base. Mr. Coulton will not be taking limos anywhere, but he certainly makes more than the average A&R scout.

You can read all about it here.

Sex Drugs and Updating your Blog

What I found interesting about the article though is a side note at the end of the article about one of the top rated unsigned band on MySpace; Scene Aesthetic.

Scene Aesthetic is an Everett Washington band that writes decent songs which connect with angst filled teenagers. For a long time Scene Aesthetic and Second Hand Serenade sat together atop the MySpace unsigned charts. They were the same band to me, much like the Cider House Rules and Snow Falling on Cedars is the same movie to me even though they have nothing to do with each other, because they both came out around the same time and have similar sounding names. Now Second Hand Serenade is on MTV, after becoming the pet project of Daniel Glass, and Scene Aesthetic is in the New York Times. What a difference a year makes.

I’m not going to rip on Scenes Aesthetic just because I personally don’t connect with their music. People out there obviously do. The article talks about how they receive messages telling them how the bands music got someone through tough times. Who knows, maybe if my best friend in high school had Scene Aesthetic to listen to instead of Stabbing Westward then he wouldn’t have tried to drive his car off a cliff (with me in it) after a particularly bad breakup. I do however connect with Scene Aesthetic vocalist Andrew de Torres’s other band Danger Radio.

Danger Radio is a throwback band, they are clearly 80’s influenced but not any particular part of the 80’s. Sometimes I want to compare them to New Wave, sometimes to Bon Jovi (Hair Hard Rock), and sometimes to Fall Out Boy (which isn’t from the 80’s but if your lead singer’s other project is also one of the biggest Emo Artists on Myspace it is an inevitable comparison) I don’t think you can pin down their sound. Their latest track, has a kind of boy band feel to it, in the sense that it is well written and has a pleasant melody, but they add a shouting chorus to make it their own. Danger Radio manages to be an experimental band, without featuring an experimental sound.

It is interesting to see two essentially baby bands driven by the same artist.

First compare sounds:

Scene Aesthetic Myspace

Danger Radio Myspace

Now look at their stats.

Scene Aesthetic
Plays 15,675,896
Profile views 5,139,426
Friends 187,465

Danger Radio
Plays 707,517
Profile views 285,586
Friends 16,176

One band clearly stands out numbers wise and in my own opinion the other stands out musically. I belive that Danger Radio’s song Party Foul is a hit. I don’t hear that in Scene Aesthetics’ music. Scene Aesthetic is more of a career band; they have developed a nice following of 180,000 friends. Thsi is nothing to sneeze at, but nothing spectacular as it is roughly what Cartel was recently complaining about as the membership of their core fan base.

Which band will end up being more successful? Only time will tell, but these are two bands and one artist that I’m going to keep my eye on. Whether or not anyone jumps at Scene Aesthetic, (or if they even want to be signed) may depend heavily on the ability of Second Hand Serenade to prove MySpace bands can cross over and sell records at traditional retail. Danger Radio was already rumored to be pursued by several major and indie labels. I hear that their SXSW showcase was not well received though. From the sound of their demos they may need more work playing together, which is understandable if the lead singer is splitting his time between bands.

The wise thing may be for a label or management company to just sign Andre De Torres to a deal which encompasses all his projects. Why make a kid this talented choose.

TALENT Filter

So I have a rival; a Pepsi to my Coke, a Burger King to my McDonalds, a Gimbles to my Macys, a Warner to my CBS. I decided to be CBS because I’ve always been intrigued Walter Yetnikoff’s infamous vendetta for no real reason against Warner Music, whose high point was definitely the political style campaign buttons emblazoned with the slogan “Fuck the Bunny.” My rivals insignia is a coffee filter so stay tuned for my equally vitriolic button.

Talent Filter, a new anonymous A&R Blog, is getting a lot of love in the Music industry Blogosphere over the past two weeks. First a mention in Coolfer and now an interview in Hypebot. First let me say that this blog is good, whoever writes it is clearly on top of everything and must have an RSS feed of every blog on their MP3 capable Treo or a Hogan’s Heroes style bug in the major label conference rooms. There is a ton of inside information, it is updated frequently, it has a real focus, and it is well written. This alone puts it ahead of 90% percent of the music blogs out there. I wouldn’t want a nemesis that was incompetent. That wouldn’t be any fun.

But, I have several problems with TALENTFilter after reading the Hypebot interview,
First:

"...This is my only real outlet to express my opinions honestly without having to sugarcoat things in fear of pissing someone off..."

Who are they really going to piss off 95% of what is on the blog is positive. Who in their right mind is going to be upset about praise for an unknown artist. The artist and team should be happy about anything they can put in a media kit, the referrer should be happy that their site or station is getting a mention as a purveyor of top talent. The only people I can think might have a problem with it is the writers friends who may feel they are being used for their inside knowledge to further the career of TALENTFilter. I have a link to my blog on the bottom of all my emails, and will proudly stand up for my opinions.

And when asked about her background (I’m not sure what is the gender of this person. It is never specified if it is a guy or girl and I’m not going to be sexist and automatically assume it is a guy) she replies:

"...worked for a pretty successful artist discovery firm for a while and witnessed first-hand the plain stupidity of a lot of the younger A&R execs at the majors, who spend more time trying to woo the latest trendy Williamsburg / Silverlake band, as opposed to searching out acts that will appeal to the mainstream..."

This bothers me for several reasons. There is no mainstream in America anymore. It is a niche world. You don’t have to look at CD sales to see that, but it can be surmised by TV ratings, book sales, just about anything that is an entertainment property. I would argue the opposite is true. It is by only appealing to the mainstream that led the major labels to their current state. I think most younger A&R execs (and I would like to know what the filter considers younger and for that matter an exec) are idealistic and trying to change that. I know I personally strived to find bands that were both musically interesting and profitable. Profitable is different then Why can’t we have both?

Also the rip on Williamsburg and Silverlake is weak. The fact was that there were bands out of those areas that did well, and more importantly were good. It stands to reason that the music business would want to continue to mine that area for talent. Was an A&R “exec” lambasted for pursuing Seattle bands in the 90’s or Laurel Canyon bands in the late 60’s early 70’s. The answer is no. This is just a potshot that uses trendy neighborhoods in much the same way the writer abhors, as a back up to mock credibility merely by their mention. If liking a band is lazy merely because of their location, then disliking them is an equally deplorable offense.

And so I have my rival, Shes west coast, I'm east coast, Biggie to her Tupac. I'm a rambler and she is succinct. And so the the war begins. Some people may say there is room for both of us and point to Macys and Gimbles, but in reality Gimbles is dead. TALENTfilter is Gimbles.

Sparky's Flaw

Sometimes you just know a band is going to be good without hearing them. At least I can, but I think it is true of most people. I would call it word of mouth, but a lot of people tell me to listen to bands that turn out to be not very good. I would say it was when certain people or when specific tastemakers recommend something, but that is not it either. Music is a personal thing, and many people rave about bands that have no real sales potential, but every once in a while you hear about a band and the manner they are described and the people associated with them makes it clear that they have a shot at success.

Sparky’s Flaw was the latest band I needed to see, and I was not disappointed. I’m two weeks late on my review, but I needed some time to think about the real possibility of this band. They were playing the BMI new music showcase, a monthly event at Arlene’s where BMI showcases a particular artist that they believe in. June at BMI had been raving about them, and that is one mark in their favor – as their performing rights organization is behind them. Their management is Redlight (Dave Matthews and Update: not Govt Mule). They have savvy, connected, forward, thinking management - so that is the second mark in their favor. I could go on about how their lawyer is powerful, or their booking agent is diligent, and so on, but a lot of bands have similar credentials and a dedicated team.

The difference is the way these people talk about the band, you can hear it in their voice. It is not a regurgitated platitude of greatness backed by hopes that it will catch on, but rather true belief that this band should be heard by everyone. This is because Sparky’s Flaw writes good songs; songs with melody, and pace, and lyrics that are not too dumb, nor too obscure.

You can listen here:

Sparky’s Flaw Myspace Page

The second song Words Meet Heartbeats is a hit. It starts off with an uplifting pounding keyboard riff, then moves into evocative lyrics that somehow create images in my mind without using descriptive words and are delivered by a young man with a great voice.

When I left their showcase I had this song in my head on the walk home. The next day it popped into my head at the grocery store (Italian deli) and it did not go away. For the next week this song found its way into my head and I was not complaining. I had it playing while writing this post, so I’m sure I can expect more of the same for the remainder of the week.

I predict that this song will be heard all over the radio in 6 months to a year depending on how long it takes to decide on a label and record a full length album and decide on a marketing plan so the actual timing I’m not sure of, but this is a hit. It’s the perfect replacement for when the Fray’s second album inevitably bombs and the world is starving for piano based rock.

The flip side is that the band can also play free form. I mean really jam. Their Charlottesville roots shine through and the college guys in back of me kept yelling as they let their instruments fly. The inevitable comparison will be the next Dave Matthews Band, as they hail from the same hometown and have the same management, and a horn section, but that seems lazy. It is like when sportscasters compare a new player on the team to a past superstar because of their backgrounds rather than the similarity between their games. They can play though.

There was a ton of A&R and assorted industry folk at the show and the band played well, which should cement their pursuit. Anyone who wasn’t paying attention to this band should. If they get the right label to add to their already stellar team, they will be successful. That is not wishful thinking. That is something I just know.